fraud

If you were, for some reason, hoping to download CM File Manager or Kika Keyboard, I have some bad news. A report last week claimed that Cheetah Mobile and an associated company called Kika Tech were engaged in some shady advertising practices, and now Google has responded. These two apps have been suspended from the Play Store, and Google may still take further action.

I know this is going to be shocking, but Cheetah Mobile may be involved in some very shady dealings. According to app analytics firm Kochava, Cheetah Mobile and an associated company called Kika Tech are using extensive permissions in their Android apps to fraudulently claim commissions for app installs from advertisers. The eight apps detected by Kochava have more than 2 billion downloads in the Play Store and around 700 million active users.

Counterfeits are a sad reality for any moderately popular company. Not only does it lose all the sales that go to fake products, it also has to tend to its reputation which might get destroyed when consumers buy a fraudulent item and blame it for a faulty build or function. Google is trying to catch fakes by launching several pages for you to report them.

Checking your credit card statement after wondering why your balance is so high and finding transactions that you don't recognize is among life's most uncomfortable moments. Many of us have been there, and even though you know there's a good chance you'll get the money back, that feeling of violation is hard to shake. Unfortunately, some recent OnePlus customers are going through exactly that at this moment in time.

A poll was posted on the OnePlus forum on Thursday asking users if they had noticed fraudulent charges on their credit cards since purchasing items on the OnePlus site. More than 70 respondents confirmed that they had been affected, with the majority saying they had bought from the site within the past 2 months.

About a year ago, the Indian company Ringing Bells made waves when it announced a ~$4 Android smartphone (Rs. 251), the Freedom 251. The device was definitely low-end, and the low price was mostly thanks to government subsidies. But now Mohit Goel, the director of Ringing Bells, has been arrested on allegations of fraud.

Heads up, app developers: there is a really good reason that the government licences people to practice medicine. Unless your app is smart enough to go through four years of med school, you probably shouldn't claim that it can diagnose diseases. The developers of "Mole Detective" on the Google Play Store and similar apps have reason to reflect on this, as the Federal Trade Commission has slapped them with fines and restricted them from claiming that their apps could reliably diagnose melanoma.

Malignant melanoma is an especially deadly form of skin cancer with an intimidating 85% mortality rate. Mole Detective and similar apps claimed (and in some cases, still claim) to be able to diagnose whether a mole or other skin abnormality represents melanoma.

Computer security is important, even if the computer in question fits in your hand. There should be no doubt about that fact. However, you should be just as wary of security software as any other app. Case in point: there's a slick new app in the Play Store called Virus Shield. It's got a cool look and it's easy to operate. Just press a single button and your virus shield is activated.